A Challenge From Last Time:

An Arab sheik is old and must will his fortune to one of his
two sons. He makes a proposition. His two sons will ride their
camels in a race, and whichever camel crosses the finish line last
will win the fortune for its owner. During the race, the two
brothers wander aimlessly for days, neither willing to cross the
finish line. In desperation, they ask a wise man for advice. He
tells them something; then the brothers leap onto the camels and
charge toward the finish line. What did the wise man say?

This one is tricky, be careful You have a bag of 50
blue balls (call this bag B) and a bag of 50 red balls (call
this bag R). Little mischievous Bobby comes by and mixes
the two bags by doing the following: He first grabs a handful of
balls from the R bag and throws them into the Bbag.
Next, he grabs a handful of the balls from the B bag and
throws them into the R bag. He does this 3 times, then
giggles and runs away. When you come back, which of your bags is
more "pure" - that is, which bag contains a higher concentration
of balls of its original color? Be careful, I messed this up the
first time I solved it

Computers and Society

Today we're going to talk about some of the effects of computers in
our society. Split up into groups and tackle these questions. Then
you will get up in front of the class and we'll discuss the issues.

How would your life change if all computers were shut down right now?

What software do you use that saves you a lot of time? (Word, Web browser, IM, Facebook....)

How do blogs work?

What are the positives and negatives of email? What should we do about spam?

What are the positives and negatives of IM?

What are the positives and negatives of Facebook, mySpace?

How do YOU use ecommerce? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

What is "data mining"?

What computer system bugs have affected your life? Why are these so insidious?

How do computers both add to as well as help with "information overload"?

Why is the Web an unreliable information source? Does that mean it is worthless?

Do you feel secure when you send personal information over the Web? Why should you ... or shouldn't you?

What is "malware" (spyware, worms, virus, trojans, adware)? What is "phishing"?

What is "privacy"? How are you protecting your own privacy? What security measures do you take?